I’ve seen this book around a lot, and was intrigued by the premise. This is the story of two fathers. One white, one Black. Each has lost a son to violence, and they are connected by their sons, who were married to one another. Both fathers did not react well to their sons’ homosexuality while they were alive, either making hurtful remarks or turning their back. Now that their sons are dead, they are learning the hard way that who their sons loved didn’t matter nearly as much as that they were alive to love them.
Both men have criminal and violent backgrounds. Both have spent time in jail, and both have been trying, with varying levels of success, to put those experiences behind them. Ike, the Black father of Isiah, has been working hard to live by the letter of the law. He has built a landscaping business up from nothing, and now has a whole troupe of employees working for him. Buddy Lee, Derek’s father, hasn’t fared as well. He lives in a trailer alone, drinks too much, and doesn’t have steady employment anymore. But both men are spurred to action when the police declare their sons’ cases inactive. They decide to work together, and to be better fathers to their sons in death than they were in life.
So begins a violent, desperate quest for vengeance – and redemption. They follow the trail of clues to search out everyone who had a connection to their sons, and ask, cajole and beat information out of them. Slowly they begin to piece together what happened and why. And then it’s war.
This is kind of a fast-paced thriller, but also not because it’s so simple in story that there’s more emphasis on character development. There were some good discussions of homophobia and racism – particularly between the two men as they slowly and grudgingly get to know one another. There are a couple of twists that come later in the book, one of which didn’t really feel like much of a reveal, and the other that was not even a tiny bit surprising. As with most thrillers there’s a huge climax towards the end of the book, which I can’t say much about without spoilers.
This was a quick read, but it had some layers that I appreciated in terms of the fathers both confronting their own failures and engaging with important topics. It was also a fast-paced action story, so will appeal to readers who enjoy those. I liked that it had both of these elements intertwined, which I haven’t seen before in a thriller. I was underwhelmed by the story itself, but was glad to have read it for the extra elements that were woven in. I don’t think this book will stick with me in the way that it would have with a more intriguing plot, but I do think that little snippets of it will come back to me here and there when brought up by something I see or hear. There are definitely small remnants of it kicking around in my mind now, a few months after reading it. If nothing else, the premise was fascinating and provided some great opportunities for interrogating the characters and their motives. I’d love to hear from any of you who have read this one – what was your take-away? Did you enjoy it? If so, what worked for you?
A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.
Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.
The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.
Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.
Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys. – Goodreads
Book Title: Razorblade Tears
Author: S.A. Cosby
Series: No
Edition: Audiobook
Published By: Flatiron Books
Released: July 6, 2021
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Family, LGBT, Vengeance
Pages: 336
Date Read: August 4-5, 2022
Rating: 5.5/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.11/5 (52,471 ratings)